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Content Creation Guide
The Content Creation Guide is to help you get started with creating fan fiction on this wiki. Firstly, it's good to start writing about your empire. Currently this is a work in progress. Important Things to Remember *Active users and admins here are always willing to help you. SupcommMonroee, Krayfish, and Nra'Vadumee are all very active administrators that you can turn to when you need a seasoned user's help. *Write with good grammar and spelling. *Don't be overly-inappropriate. Some profanities are fine, but don't turn a character into a veritable Tourettes Guy. *Be respectful to other users. *When writing in tandem, don't get upset when something doesn't go the way you wanted. The point of tandem is that neither author really knows how the story will turn out. *People appreciate it when you correct a small grammar or spelling error in their article that you noticed. *Empire and character pages are not places for you to go spouting off about your UBER 1337 pwnz0rz empiah. Creating an Empire/Species Here a few things to think about, as well as a few tips to consider when you first create your empire. *Appearance: Whatever creature you played through the game with, forget it. While it's a good base for making a realistic empire, it can be tricky to have a reasonable appearance. Try to come up with something new that makes sense biologically. Once you've created a more well planned creature, go back into your game, and try to create what you just described using the creature creator tool, and take your time: don't over-design your species, and don't rush through your work; if you do, it will likely end up not looking anything like what you imagined. *Government and Society: How does your empire function as a people? Think about what kind of government your empire has, consider these aspects while your thinking: the personality of your creature (Pacifists, or warlords?), what roles religion plays in your people, how important the arts are within your empire. *Culture: What is a typical member of your empire like? Taking into consideration your government, and your society, think about things like: what kind of jobs are highly valued, what do civilians do on their day off, how often do people travel? *Empire: Now having thought through your government, and your society, set up your empire's rules. How do they interact with other empires? Think about how big your empire is: How many systems/planets do they control; which ones are most valuable; how do they trade and communicate with one another? Is there a leader in your Empire: Who are they; what position do they hold; are they corrupt or altruistic? *Planets and Systems: Which planets have the highest value in your empire, think about more than just trade value: are any of them historically significant; are any of them key military bases; are some entertainment, business, or trading Meccas within your eempire; are there any major tourist attractions or natural wonders on any of your planets? How valuable is your homeworld? *History: History is what makes your empire complete. It will give your empire some deep background and a rich culture. Think about everything you've already developed and ask: how did it get this way? Come up with some key historical figures, these can be: artists, scientists, engineers, war heroes, leaders. No-one has a perfect history; what and when were the darker times in your empire's history; did they have any less than heroic leaders; was there ever a time where your empire was on "the wrong side?" Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating a balanced and creative empire. *Your empire is not the best ever. Unless you are trying to be comical, you should avoid saying things like: "The most epic, undefeated, champion of all empires that owns the universe forever." Try to always have an idea for a more powerful ally, and a more powerful enemy than yourself. *While overfavored characters in roleplays, collaborative works, and other literature should be avoided (i.e. Mary Sues); background characters, historical figures, and other people that are in your empire's history and aren't necessarily a main character can be superstars of their time. Adding a couple historical superstars in your empire will add to it's history and it's culture by creating figures that the people of your empire look up to and honor. Think about human history and all of our superstars: who are or who were your empire's Beethovens, Archimedes, Abraham Lincolns, etc? As long as you don't try to bring them out into the world of collaborative work or roleplaying, and as long as they aren't your "main character," you should be alright with putting in a few of these. *Try to be semi-realistic. While you may incorporate some fantasy elements (i.e. god-like beings), try not to blatantly disobey the laws of logic and physics, try to at least come up with a reasonable explanation to how you broke the laws of physics. At the same time; do not... by any means ever limit yourself to what's in the game. What the game should be for your empire is a good base to start with; it's like a chunk of clay that still needs to be molded, shaped, and intriquitely designed into something amazing. *Proofread your articles and use good grammar! People are more likely to read something that is easy on the eyes. *No-one's empire is canon, period. Your empire by itself is not a collaborative work with eveyrone else's out there; so if you want to make something that stand on it's own, then go ahead. If you ever want to take that empire and use it in rp or collab. then you can always use the alternate dimension principle. You may also look into sci-fi novels, movies and other media such as Star Wars or Star Trek. Of course, you can get influence and inspiration from anywhere! Once you have answered these questions, create a character for a story that is a member of this race. Give him/her a personality. You may try searching for some character sheets online to help you develop this character. After creating this character, write a short story. Stories can help you add more meat to your empire overall. Even the smallest details can have an influence on your whole empire. Creating a Role Playing/Collaborative Story Character While having historical superstars within your empire is acceptable, using them in roleplays and in collaborative works should be avoided. Unless your in the midst of a massive international war, your empire's leader probably doesn't need to be involved; they should have better things to do. There's no problem with bringing up characters in your empire's history and having your character obsess over them, but that should remain in character. There's not even a problem with occasionally having a major character from your empire make an appearance, as long as it's a reasonably temporary thing (i.e. the leader of your empire coming in to give your character a promotion of some sorts, or to re-assign him as an exuent from the rp.) When creating a character, you should consider the following: *Do your people have different racial appearances among one another? If so, which race within your species does your character belong to? How does this affect him physically and mentally? *What experience does your character have? Consider the following when answering this question: are they hand picked by your empire's leader or another supperior figure, or are they joining the other characters in the rp/collab voluntarily; have they or are they serving in the military; what are your character's dreams and goals, and what have they done to work towards those; did they have a profficient education; have they developed any skills, including physical prowess; do they hold any high ranking positions? *Taking the above into consideration, what does your character act like? *What does your character own: weapons, tools, a space ship, etc.? When creating a character, do not: *Make them utterly invincible. *Expect them to be completely under your domain in a collabrative story. Other co-writers in the story will need to control them (at least minorly) to keep thier part of the story going. *Do anything stupid about introducing them, ie, don't have them teleport in from another dimension and expect everyone to be OK with it. *Have them be unrealistically bad---, ie, you can't make them mow down an army without a scratch. Creating a Planet *What is unique or interesting about the planet? *Where is the planet? *What sort of geographic past has it had? Keep the following in mind: *Make it believable. (Some knowledge on how planets form in real life is a plus.) *Try not to use one climate for the entire habitable planet unless you have a reasonable explanation. Terms General Terms Empire - A general term for an area governed by a particular race most often referring to one that is space-faring. Race - A term for an intelligent species at any technological level. Often used synonymously with empire. Military (Note: Some term definitions and wording taken partially from Wikipedia) Guns Cartridge - A cartridge, or round, is the pacakge in which the bullet, gunpowder, and primer is packed into. Cartridges are designed to fit perfectly in the barrels of firearms. Cartridges can vary widely in size, just like the bullets they house, from anti-tank shells to pistol ammunition. Cartridges are measured in several different ways. *Milimetre Caliber Measurement (ex. 7.62x39mm NATO) - Bore followed by case length, both in milimetres. *Calibre (ex. .308 Winchester) - Bore (from which said round is fired from) diametre in inches. *Pound (ex. 17 Pounder) - Weight of shells, which are slightly different types of cartridges (generally larger, explode). Pound measurement is also in use mainly by Commonwealth nations. Pistol - Handheld, semi-automatic (sometimes with option of full-auto) firearm. Inaccurate when not used at close range, and used mainly as a backup weapon. Revolvers and Glocks are examples of pistols. Bore - Interior diametre of the barrel of a gun. Bullet - Projectile launched by a gun to destroy or damage a target using the force of impact and penetration. Primer - Material in a cartridge sensitive to pressure. Primer is detonated when a gun's hammer hits the back of the cartridge, which in turn detonates the gunpowder, which then launches the bullet out of the barrel. SMG - Sub-machine guns are automatic infantry weapons that fire pistol ammunition. SMGs are best used at close-to-mid range, as they are not rifled weapons. MP5's and Uzi's are examples of SMGs. Battle Rifle - Battle rifles are semi-automatic rifles that fire full power rifle cartridges. Some are purely semi-automatic, while others are variants of assault rifles. Battle rifles are regular infantry weapons, as opposed to sniper rifles, which are best used away from the front line. G3s and M14s are examples of battle rifles. Assault Rifle - Full-automatic/semi-automatic infantry weapon easily recognizable by detachable magazine and selective fire. Assault rifles are more powerful than pistols, but generally weaker than battle rifles. Assault rifles are standard modern infantry weapons. AK-47s and Steyr AUGs are examples of assault rifles. Machine Gun - Fully-automatic portable or mounted weapon designed to fire hundreds of rounds per minute from belts or high-capacity magazines. While lighter machine guns can be fired like rifles, they are most effective when the user is prone. Most machine guns fire high-power rifle cartridges. Shotgun - Shotguns are close-combat infantry weapons that use the energy of a fixed shell to fire smaller pellets called shot, or a larger single projectile called slug. Shotguns utilise all manner of firearm action, including but not limited to break action, pump action, and lever action. Benelli M4s and Winchester Model 1897s are examples of shotguns. Action - System of operation in a firearm that ejects spent cartridges, and inserts fresh rounds into the chamber. Blowback - System in semi-auto and full-auto firearms in which the force created by combustion in the chamber forces the bolt back, allowing for the ejection of the spent cartridge, and the insertion of a fresh round. Gas-Operation - System in semi-auto and full-auto firearms in which some of the high-pressure gas created from the firing of the round is used to eject a spent cartridge, and insert a fresh round into the chamber. Break-Action - Firearm whose barrels are hinged, and rotate forward to expose the breech, to allow the loading of ammunition, and the unloading of spent cartridges. Many sport and home defense shotguns are break-action. Bolt-Action - Bolt-action weapons have a manually-operated bolt. The bolt is drawn back to eject a spent cartridge and bring up a new round, and the bolt is drawn forward to insert the round into the chamber. Generally, the only safety mechanism for bolt-action weapons is the locking of the bolt handle. Bolt-action weapons include sniper rifles and many WWII infantry rifles. Semi-Automatic - Semi-auto weapons have a mechanism for automatically ejecting spent cartridges, and inserting fresh rounds into the chamber. However, semi-auto weapons fire only one round per trigger pull. Holding down the trigger does nothing. Semi-automatic weapons include battle rifles and assault rifles. Full-Automatic - Full-auto weapons generally have the same mechanism as semi-auto weapons, but generally eject spent cartridges and insert fresh round into the chamber much faster. Full-auto weapons include machine guns and assault rifles. Vehicles APC - Armoured personnel carriers are combat vehicles designed to transport and support infantry on the battlefield. While most APCs are generally armed with one or more machine guns, some carry anti-tank rifles, guided missiles, or mortars. While not intended to be used directly in combat, APCs are intended to protect soldiers from shrapnel, small-arms fire, and ambushes. The M113 and BTR are examples of APCs. IFV - Infantry fighting vehicles are designed to carry soldiers into the fight and subsequently provide support. IFVs have, in most cases, much more armament than APCs, as well as better armoured. IFVs can carry machine guns, small tank guns, and missiles. The German Marder and American Bradley are both examples of IFVs. Tank - Tanks are armoured vehicles designed for front-line combat. Tanks are generally quite mobile, and find significant use in offensive and defensive operations. Historically, tanks have been used as spearheads in offensives, backbones in assaults, and static defensive positions when under attack. Tanks normally have one (or more) powerful guns on a rotating turret, with supplementary machine guns on the turret and chassis. Tanks are normally heavily armoured, and difficult to destroy without proper weaponry. The American M1 Abrams and British Challenger 2 are both examples of tanks. SPG - Self-propelled gun. Type of tank that utilizes an artillery gun as opposed to a regular tank cannon. These vehicles sometimes pack less punch than less-mobile artillery pieces or specially-designed artillery trucks, but are exponentially more mobile, and can keep up with a motorised force. Modern militaries intermingle the SPG with field artillery pieces to allow for greater combat versatility. Amphibious Vehicle - Amphibious combat vehicle designed for use in seaborne attacks to ferry troops and equipment to shore, and effectively support forces during inland operations. AVs are similar to IFVs and APCs. The American AAV-7A1 is the best example of an amphibious vehicle. Ammunition FMJ - Full metal jacket bullets consist of a soft core (normally lead) encased in harder metal, like cupronickel or steel alloy. The jacket may partially or fully enclose the soft core. If the core is fully enclosed, the round is termed a total metal jacket round (TMJ). JSP/SP Round - Soft-point bullets are partially-jacketed expanding rounds with greater penetration and less expanding capacity than regular HP rounds. Hollow Point - Expanding bullet used against organic targets with a pit/hollowed out space in the tip intended to cause the bullet to expand once it has entered the target, thus causing greater internal damage. Jacketed hollow point rounds (JHP) are coated in harder metal to increase the strength of the round and to prevent the fouling of the barrel with lead. Armour-Piercing - AP rounds are designed to penetrate all manner of armour, including but not limited to ballistic vests and composite tank armour. They are built to withstand the penetrating of armour plating, and generally have strengthened cases with specially shaped and hardened noses. AP rounds are generally more accurate than HEAT rounds. HEAT - High explosive anti-tank rounds have shaped explosive charges that use the Munroe effect to punch through armour using extreme pressure. Anti-Personnel - Not to be confused with armour piercing rounds, these AP rounds are designed to destroy organic targets. AP ammunition can range from fragmentation rounds in a tank or artillery gun, to a flechette weapon, such as the Soviet AO-27. Explosive - Explosive ammunition covers a wide range of ammunition types designed to explode on impact or penetration. Generally, explosive ammunition does not pierce armour, and does not normally pack enough punch to directly take out tank armour. However, if the charge is powerful enough, explosive tank ammunition has the potential to destroy other tanks. Explosive ammunition can be found in all manner of weapons, from rifles to tanks, and artillery to pistols. Starships Corvette - Small, maneuverable combat vessel designed to provide an effective fighter screen. Corvettes generally lack the firepower to take on anything larger than a frigate. The Eteno Wisthedden-Class Corvette ENS Kaloyanchev ''is an example of a corvette. Gunboat - Small, but heavily armed ship fielding all manner of weaponry. Gunboats are used in large number to take on other gunboats and larger ships. Gunboats also provide fighter screening, as well as the ability to field a small amount of strike craft of their own. The Eteno Hons-Class Gunboat ''ENS Ionescu ''is an example of a gunboat. Frigate - Frigates are front-line ships desinged for taking on strike craft and all manner of ships. However, frigates almost always must attack with numbers on their side to be able to successfully defeat larget ships. The Eteno Jan-Class Frigate ''ENS Loki ''is an example of a frigate. Destroyer - Smallest type of capital ship, destroyers are fast and maneuverable, but tough and powerful ships meant to escort larger ships in a fleet. Destroyers are fielded against powerful short-range attackers, as well as other destroyers and occasionally larger ships. Destroyers, along with cruisers, form the main battle line, supporting battleships and carriers. The Eteno Delci-Class Destroyer ''ENS Unity ''is an example of a destroyer. Cruiser - Larger than destroyers and smaller than battleships, cruisers are often called 'pocket battleships' because of their great firepower compared to ships of smaller class. Cruisers are designed to take on all types of ships, including battleships. Modern cruisers fill most fleet support roles, as well as front-line combat roles. The Eteno Hostor-Class Cruiser ''ENS Dagfinn ''is an example of a cruiser. Battleship - Large, armoured ship with devastating gun batteries capable of pounding all manner of targets into dust, or submission, whichever comes first. Supplemented by their strike craft, and smaller fleet ships, battleships command the fight and are almost always the biggest targets, and rightly so. A single battleship can take on multiple cruisers or destroyers, and scores of smaller ships such as corvettes. An empire's ability to field battleships is a reliable indicator of their cumulative power. The Eteno Teclavic-Class Battleship ''ENS Francis Scott Key ''is an example of a battleship. Carrier - Carriers do not deal in ship-to-ship combat. They do not carry a great deal of armament, and are not armoured enough to stand toe-to-toe with cruisers or battleships. However, they are still some of the most valuable ships of the fleet. That is because carriers field scores of strike craft that are capable of swarming and obliterating ships, even battleships, in minutes (and sometimes less). In many modern navies (most notably the Eteno Imperial Navy) battleships and carriers supplement each other, with battleships providing much of the direct muscle, protecting the carriers and destroying other large ships, carriers deploy strike craft to annihilate enemy ships. Even more so than battleships, an empire's ability to field carriers is a reliable indicator of their cumulative power. Even for a prospering society, maintaining a modern carrier is a logistical challenge of its own level. The Eteno Bismarck-Class Carrier ''ENS Winogrodzki ''is an example of a carrier. Dreadnought - Few and far between, dreadnoughts strike fear into all those they come across, friend or foe. Easily dwarfing even the largest battleships, dreadnoughts pack enough firepower to destroy large fleets all on their own. Dreadnoughts also field strike craft in quantities eqaulling and surpassing carriers. Most dreadnoughts travel with giant fleets, crushing all enemies in their path. Only the galaxy's absolute biggest and strongest powers have the resources to even construct a single dreadnought, let alone construct and maintain ''multiple. It is truly a technological feat to field these ships. Currently, the KMF maintains ten in active service, with hundreds stockpiled in reserve. A nation with roughly three times their population, the EIT, maintains four, with two in reserve. The Eteno Eclipse-Class Dreadnought ''ENS Griffin ''is an example of a dreadnought. Ram - Naval rams are a rather unique type of ship, not designed to deploy strike craft or launch devastating fusillades of missiles and lasers at other ships, but to simply run into them. Naval rams have the thickest armour and strongest engines, and in battle, they bash into other ships to destroy them. Outside of combat, naval rams can be found clearing mines, and assisting with space construction. The Eteno Hepheastus-Class Naval Ram ''ENS Achilles ''is an example of a naval ram. Seaships Destroyer - Fast, tough ship designed to escort larger ships in a fleet. Many destroyers hold most of their power in missile launching capability, and less in the strength of their deck guns. Cruiser - Cruisers fulfill multiple roles in naval fleets, sometimes in place of battleships. Cruisers generally have guided-missile capability, as well as powerful deck guns. Some cruisers are convoy raiders or anti-air escorts, while some are anti-ship combatants in place of battleships. Shore bombardment is also a major capability that sees frequent use with cruisers. Battleship - While their role has diminished with the advent of the carrier, battleships still find use with modern sea navies, due to the fact that modern seaships have significantly greater anti-air coverage. Battleships have the largest guns of all the ships in the fleet, and in many cases, ''most ''of the guns. Big and slow, battleships make good targets for enterprising pilots who can evade a thick anti-fighter screen. Whether the target is a fleet or fortified beach, battleships will demolish them without hesitation or challenge. Carrier - Lacking significant armour, or any deck guns to speak of (barring AA weaponry or missile launchers), carriers still manage to be the most valuable ship in the fleet. Carriers deploy large quantities of strike craft against all manner of targets, providing range and versatility that simply cannot be afforded by other ships. In many fleets, the carrier(s) is the centrepiece, with all other ships tasked with protecting it. Amphibious Landing Ship - The ALS is essential to amphibious assaults. They field and deploy strike craft, smaller landing craft and amphibious vehicles for soldiers and supplies, as well as transport aircraft and helicopters. ALS' also serve as command hubs during amphibious attacks. Patrol Boat - Tiny, quick, and weak, patrol boats are armed with small deck guns, AA defense weapons, supplementary machine guns and lasers, and possibly torpedoes and depth charges. Patrol boats tend to stay away from ship-to-ship engagements against larger ships, and stick to fighting other patrol boats, providing anti-air support, shore bombardment, waterway patrol, special forces insertion, and submarine hunting. Galactic Geography Binary System- Two stars orbitting one another. Black Hole - A region of space with intense gravity. Anyone who gets caught in one is either crushed to nothingness, or sent to another universe. Blue Giant - A massive star with a short life span. Galactic Core - A supermassive black hole found at the center of a galaxy. Gas Giant - A large gaseous planet tremendously bigger than most rocky planets. Planet - A general term for a natural mass of rock with a solid core. Red Dwarf - A small star that lasts the longest. It is one the weakest kinds of stars, yet it can support T3 worlds. Rings - A sparesly scattered set of small rocks in orbit of a planet most often left over from system formation. Most common around gas giants, but can also be found on rocky planets. Rocky Planet - A planet consisting almost entirely of solid material. A common type of planet. Star - A large mass of energy with no solid core. Planets, which are tremendously smaller, can be found orbitting a star. Terrascore - A general ranking determining the habitability of a planet. T1 can barely support life while T3 is flourishing. Trinary System - Three stars orbitting one another. Wormhole- A hole in the space-time continuum that acts as a shortcut through thousands of lightyears. Yellow Dwarf - A small yellow star just like Sol. Category:Guide